Island Days
by emeraldwolf
Summary: Takes place before the game. RikuxSora very light shounenai. Right now this is essentially just a look into Riku's home life. There is more of a note about this at the beginning of the fic. oneshot


This is a little one-shot…but if I get more ideas for it I think I'll add to it. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. But I'm writing this cause I like to try and do things sometimes that aren't cliché. And I've found this to be a pretty big cliché in the world of Kingdom Hearts, so here goes my attempt to change it. Hope you enjoy!!

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I open the door and walk through it, letting it swing back on its well oiled hinges. As long as it closes behind me I don't care about locking it. Not like anything would ever happen on the island anyway.

"Riku, is that you?"

I walk into the kitchen to assure my mother that it was I, and no one dangerous. Of course _had _I been a robber or murderer or something, she would have just given away her location.

"What are you doing home so early Ku?"

Behind her silver head I see that the sky is still mostly blue, the sun barely beginning to set over the sea. Normally I'd be out with my friends, the hoards of them that follow me around the island like dogs. But today I just felt too tired to put up with it.

"No reason," I say as I shrug and approach my mother. She looks at me with her sweet black eyes, half covered with her silver bangs. I wonder if I got my green eyes from my father. He died when I was very young and the few pictures we have of him are not close enough to show his eye color.

"What did Dad look like?" I accidentally blurt out. Mother doesn't seem to mind though as she continues to chop at the carrot on the cutting board. More than anything she seems to look calmer at the mention of my father.

"He had gorgeous blond hair. Of course when you were born he was thrilled that you'd gotten my color. He always said that his hair paled in comparison to mine."

At this she smiled warmly at me and tossed the end of the carrot to me. She knows that I love vegetables and can't help but snack on them whenever they're around. I chomp loudly at the orange stump and she laughs at this, causing her long hair to fall over one shoulder, making her pause her chopping to push it back.

I nibble more at the slightly un-ripe vegetable and look sternly at my mother. I'm still curious and I know that she can tell.

"What else would you like to know?" she said as she lifted a delicate eyebrow at me, mocking hidden deep in her eyes.

"Did he have green eyes like me?"

"Actually, he had light blue eyes."

I nod at that, not quite sure why it had seemed so important to know. There were plenty of people who looked nothing like their parents, and at least I look like my mother. So then why do I even feel like I stand out here in my own house?

Wiping her carroty hands on her strawberry covered apron, she leans over to me and gently places her hand on my head. I know that she can tell that I'm off today, but I don't want to talk about it and I hope my making a point of not looking up at her will tell her this.

"Again…why are you home so early?"

Bloody mothers. They never overlook anything, do they?

"I just got tired of playing. Can I go to my room now?" I said with more bite than I intended.

With a small nod my mother returned to her stir-fry-making. But before I even leave the kitchen I hear her mumble something quietly. All I can pick out is the name 'Sora'.

The smell of the scented candle burning in the hallway suddenly seems a lot more interesting than it did before. It smells like coffee…and for the life of me I can't stop thinking about how they can make it smell like that.

"Mom, this has nothing to do with Sora okay."

"I just find it strange. You two used to be best friends. And now you barely ever invite him over, and when I see you playing together it usually seems like you're trying to beat him at everything."

Damn mothers. They are officially _way_ too observant.

I pop the rest of my carrot in my mouth and finish it off. Had I been older I have the feeling that carrot would have been a shot glass full of something. Now that I have my courage back though, I turn slowly around and sit myself at our small kitchen table.

"Mom, can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course you can," she said in a heartbeat, moving on to cutting up broccoli stalks.

In order to prepare myself, and gather up some bravery for what I'm about to do, I play with the placemat in front of me. They seem to have been in this room for as long as I can remember. They are hard plastic, with foam underneath that keeps them from sliding. All across them are different fruits, going around the outside like a border, with one center fruit larger than the rest. I think there used to be more of them, but now there are just four. I remember we never used them when company or family came to visit because there weren't enough for everyone. These were just for my family. Which was now just my mother and me.And sometimes Sora.

"Would you be angry with me if I said I liked someone I'm not supposed to like…" I trace the faded apple, knowing all its curves and all the faults in it from having done this exact same thing a million times before.

"Well, I can't think of anyone that you might like, who you aren't supposed to. Unless its someone who's bad for you. You don't like someone who's dangerous do you Riku?"

Even as I stare at her back and the tied red knot of her apron, I know she's smiling by the tone of her voice. She has always been able to do that. Seemingly just give off an aura of an answer, instead of verbalizing one.

"Even if it were…" I can't help but stutter a bit as I try to think of the right word. But the word refuses to come so I'm forced to use the alternative. "A boy?"

I feel the moment of silence as it comes all around us. But my mother continues chopping that broccoli, as if her son had not just declared himself as gay. Yup, a queer, a fag, a nancy. Whatever word is the one she was going to use for me I didn't care. Because no matter which one she chose, it would be the way she said it that would drive me away.

"I must say, I didn't see that one coming. But if it makes you happy, who am I to stop you? As much as I would like to see you grow up and marry a nice girl," Jean turned and smiled, showing that she was sincere but not angry, "I wouldn't want you to do that if you found yourself loving someone else instead."

I can barely contain it. I walk slowly up to my mother, waiting for her eyes to flash like they did when I broke that picture frame out of spite. But they don't, so I hug her tightly around her waist. Unless my father was shorter than I am right now, I get the feeling I'll be tall when I stop growing, if my mother is anything to go off of.

I feel her pet my hair, always trying to smooth out the knots that form in it.

"Although I do think I may have to put a stop to any further sleepovers though."

I laugh into her apron, giving her one last squeeze before stepping back.

"I love you mom."

She smiles and swats me on my shoulder. "I know you do, but you'll love me a lot less if dinner isn't done in time, which it won't be if you keep bothering me."

I smile and stick my tongue out at her before avoiding another swat and running up to my room. The soft wood of the hallway creaks under me, the same spots that I had long ago learned to avoid when making late night fridge raids.

My room is sparsely furnished, which I prefer to the cluttered rooms of most of my friends. My bed is set along the wall across from my window, with a bookshelf and a dresser on the two other sides. The cd player I have sits under the window, which in turn causes me to be paranoid during the rainy season.

I flop onto my bed, one of the few indulgences I allow myself every day. The comforter smells like fabric softener and is perfect to curl up on. I bet all the kids on the island would be surprised at how much I enjoy my solitude. I know they all think I'm an attention hog, and need to have at least two or three people at any time at my beck and call. If only they knew that I hated the fact that they did that, but that I was just too lazy to tell them any different.

On my dresser I happen to stop my eyes on a picture of my family. Or what's left of it. In it my mother is sitting a chair with a brilliant smile and shorter hair. To one side is a younger version of myself, smiling my usual half-smirk. On her other side is my older brother Daniel, smiling just as brightly as our mother. He has dirty blond hair that he keeps cut short enough that he can gel it, and bright blue eyes. I have no doubt that he must be the spitting image of our father, although I barely know what he looks like.

I wonder how Daniel is. He's been out of college for three years now, and I rarely see him more than once every couple of years or so. He moved out for the larger islands and works for a big construction company there.

I still remember the day he left for his new job, and how he had made me promise not to cry. I said I wouldn't, then promptly took a shower and cried where there was no evidence. It's hard to keep so quiet somewhere your every sound echoes.

As I stare at the reflection on the picture, I think about Sora again. He seems to just pop into my head for absolutely no reason. If there is a beat of emptiness in my thoughts he takes it up. I suppose I must really love him if I think about him this much. I roll over and let my eyes slide close as I curl up more on my bed.

All I want is someone to be here. Touch me on my back, curl up along with me. Someone I can be alone with, and know that they're alone with me.

Warm, hot breath passes over my neck and I sigh heavily.

"Heya Peanut."

My cat meows happily at me before sniffing again at my neck, his cold nose causing me to shrink away.

"I've already fed you Peanut, now go away."

The small tabby doesn't seem to want to leave now and instead crawls onto my chest, needing into my stomach with his paws. Good thing we got him de-clawed. Of course, having a cat's butt in my face is definitely not making my day any better.

"OI!"

I jerk up and Peanut goes flying from my bed, feigning insult at my sudden motion and the loss of his pillow. The voice came from my window and I see two hands on my windowsill, and a cheerful face above them.

"Gimme a hand will ya?" Sora's face is pink with the exertion of holding himself up, his face ducking out of site for a minute leaving just brown spikes in view.

I take a calming breath and hope my pulse will slow down soon. I hate being surprised. It must have come from living for so long somewhere where there are no surprises.

Grabbing onto his forearms I heave a tired Sora into my room. He collapses with absolutely no grace onto my floor before grinning up at me.

"Thanks."

"Uh…no problem. But what are you doing here Sora?"

He stood up and cracked his back, twisting it first to the left, then to the right. I swear that's a nervous habit of his.

"You just seemed pissed before. And when you left I was worried you were mad at me or something."

I just watch as he shuffles a bit in place, looking all around my room. Even before we started drifting apart and Kairi showed up to drive a wedge between us, we hung out at Sora's house a lot more often. He didn't have any siblings so he had a lot more than I did, and his room offered a lot more to do than mine.

"That wasn't it. I was just tired and not in the mood to put up with Tidus and the others today."

"Oh," he said quietly, suddenly looking like he felt out of place. "If you want, I can, can you know…" He motioned back to my window, his constant form of entrance into my house. The enormous maple tree that grew outside my window was one of the few non-tropical plants that had taken root on the island. It also happened to be the best climbing tree around.

"I didn't mean I didn't want to put up with you Sora." I put him into a quick and gentle headlock as I smile at him. "I would never be too tired to put up with _you_!"

The brunette just laughs and escapes from my hold. He dramatically sniffs the air before grinning mischievously.

"So what's your mom cookin today?"

I shake my head and make a tsk'ing sound. He lets out an undignified 'what?' before I brush past him and open my door.

"Hey mom! Can Sora stay for dinner?"

"Sure. Tell him its chicken and rice stir-fry!"

"Oh sweet. Man Riku, your mom's the best. Wish mine could cook."

I smile before suggesting that we go and have a quick swordfight before dinner time. Sora happily accepts and we take off down the stairs. Out of the corner of my eye I see my mother smiling at us before shaking her head knowingly and returning to her cooking.

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Don't get me wrong, I don't mind Riku having a troubled homelife, but I felt like maybe he should have the chance to have a good and loving family too. Hope ya liked it. Leave me a review. I may or may not continue this fic, depending on if I get any more ideas for it.


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